Platen and platen equipment for type-writing machines.



H. A. FOOTHORAP. PLATEN AND PLATEN EQUIPMENT FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 1911- Patented Oct. 31,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Allormj was Pnsns 90.. rNum-urua. wasnmc H.IA.' FOOTHORAP.

PLATEN AND PLATEN EQUIPMENT FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

I APPLICATION flLED- FEB. 6. 19H.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented 7 Oct. 31, 1916.

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' HARRY A. roorHoJa P;v or HARRISBURG, PENNY-LVANIA, .assrenon ro- ELLIOTT- FISHER COMPANY, E HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORYORATION Q-F DELA- WARE. U

To all whom it M ay concern :Beit. known that I, HARRY A; FOOTI-IORAP,

residing at Harrisburg, in the county of Dauphin and :State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Platen and Platen Equipment for Type-,W'riting Machines, of which the'folilowing is a specification. r

This invention relates to what are known j PLATE Ann PLATEN nourrrrnnrron rYrE-Wnirme MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 31, 1916. i seam filed February a, 1911; Serial No. 606,934. l 4

action of the platen withoneof the-stationary work clamps. a citizen of the United States of America,

1' indicates a stationary .plateni frame comprising side bars 2 and?) and transverse 1 edges lrcated in a lower planethan the upv 60 as fiat platen typewriters, and more particu-' larly to the mounting of the platen and to means whereby av ribbon extended over the platenis automatically ted step by step as the platen is manipulated.

One object oi the invention is to provide.

a simple, inexpensive and eilicient mounting whereby the platen is yieldingly sustained in writing position and permitted a downward movement from the writing, plane when operated by a treadle.

A further object is to combine with a depressible platen a ribbon having its oppoticularly the mounting and relation of one In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1- 1s a bottom plan view of the platen .trameand the structure carried thereby including the platen. Fig. 2 is a sectional new of a portion of the structure showing. more-particularly the linespacing mechanism with the parts in the positions they assume when the platen-is in normal or elevated position.

F ig- 3 is a similar view with the platen depressed. "Figw is a' longitudinal section on;'.the line 4.& of Fig. 1 Fig. 5 isa" transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig.

4, with the center portion of the structure broken out to facilitate illustration.) Fig. 6

frame bars l, 5 and 6 hatdngtheinupper per edges of the side bars 3.

The bare is located at therear end of they platen frame while the bars'5 and 6 are" locatedadjacent-to the front and rear ends 7 approximately fitted between the side platesBand 3 of the frame and yieldinglyg supported by springs 8 preferably located-at oradjacent to the four corners of thelplaten. The pair of springs Sat each end of the platen are seated upon spring supporting bars .9 and have their upper ends received within spring cups l0 screwed or otherwise secured to the under side of the platen. Projecting upwardly into the springs from the i.

bars 9' are combined springcentering and platen-step pins 11.

The pins 11 prevent displacement of the springs from the bars?) and" also serve by engagement with'the platern'or a part carried thereby, as for instance screws 12,430 limit the downward movement of the platen when the latter is depressed by meansto be described.

The screws 19. serve to retainthespring cups 10, but it wlllalso be seen that these screws constitute adjustable platen stops coa cting with the stops 11 to limit the depression of the platen, the extent of such depress sion bein variable, if desired, by the adj ustment of the screws 12. The upward moi'ement of the platen 7 under the impulse of the springs 8 is limited by work clamps 13 in the form of angle bars extended longi' tudinally of thelplaten and secured to the 1 sidebars 3 'ot'the frame immediately above is a detail sectional'viewvishowingmore parof the platen guiderollers. Fig. 7 is a detail View of one'end ofone of'the spring sup porting bars. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the line space lever and pawl, and F1g; 91s, atransverse section showmgthe mannerin .whicha folded form is made to inclosethe rihbonand is retained by the co- 14:, for the reception of the well known forms" of transverse work guarding members 15 ordinar ly employed in" connection with flat the frame. /Vhen unresisted the springsS urge; the platen-upwardly and cause a sheet platens, but usually guided by grooves or} ways formed directly inthe side barsf3 of.

onsh'eets imposed thereon tobe clamped be tween the platen and the clamps 13. In the particular use of the platen to which the sheet of said form.

in order that the platen may be freely movable verticallywhile guided accurately in such movement,- I prefer to provide said platen at opposite sides thereof with guide rollers 17 engaging the side bars 3 of the platen frame and carried by roller brackets 18 screwed or otherwise secured to the under side of the platen, see Figs. 1 and 6; The platen is designed to be depressed by foot power exerted upon a treadle 19'fulcrumed, as indicated at 20, upon a fixed part, as for instanceone of the bars 21 of a table upon which these platen frames are ordinarily carried. The treadle 19 is con- 7 Jnected by a flexible piece 22 with a platen lever 23 is afiorded a pivotal connection, as

depressing lever 23 fulcrumed on a fulcrum bracket 24 secured to a fixed part, as for instance the transverse bar 6 of the platen frame. Intermediate of its ends the indicated at- 25, with the platen 7. The manner of securing the flexiblepiece 22 to the lever 23 is not material, buta simple arrangement consists in providing the outer end of the lever 23 with'a headed stud 26 over which the flexible piece or cable 22 is passed and thence extended to and securely held'by a clamp 27 carried by the lever; It will be seen that the platen is normally held in the writing plane by the springs 8, but

the operator, by depressing the treadle 19, may readily depress the platen through the medium of the lever 23 against the resistance of the springs 8.

It hasvbeen stated that the opposite ends ofthe ribbon 16 are wound upon rolls. By reference more particularly to Fig. 4, it. will be seen that these rolls are carried by front and rear ribbon spools28 and 29, the spindles'30 and 31 of which are afforded bearings in the side bars 2- and 3 and extended beyond the bar 3 to accommodate knurled .heads 32 by means of which the ribbon spools may be rotated by hand if desired. It is intended. however, that line spacing of the ribbon shall be effected automatically, at least each time the platen is depressed for the adjustmentor replacement of a work sheet. To this end the spindle of the rear ribbon spool is equipped with a ratchet Wheel 33 with which coacts a spacing pawl 34 carried by a spacing-lever fulcrnmed at 36 onthe framebar 3 and having an upturned end 37 extending forwardly to a positionbeneath the platen 7. The pawl'3 lis urged toward".

the ratchet usual by a spring 38 and the lever 35 is normally retained in the-position indicated in Fig-2.byaaspring 39 securedat one end to the leverand at its'opposite end to the platen frame. By reasonof this airra-r'i'gen'ie'nt' it will beseen that upon the depression of the platen the latter will swing the forward end of the lever 35 thus elevating the rear end thereof and causing the dog 34 by engagement with'the ratchet- 33 to rotate the rear ribbonspool and thus wind thereon a length of ribbon predeter mined by the throw of the lever' 35. \Vhen the platenrises upon therelief of the pressure, on the treadle 19, the spring 39 will'ii:

restore-the ribbon spacing lever35 to'nor mal position and the pawl 34 will click idlyback over the ratchet in an obvious manner.

In order to prevent thev sagging of the rib-1 1 bon whenever the'platenis depressed,- said:

ribbon is preferably led over apair of fixed transverse ribbon guides4l0 and 41 adjacent: to the ribbon spools, but at approximately the plane of the writing. surface so as to support the intermediate portion of the ribbon in approximately. the'pla'ne toward and away from which the platen moves;

It will of course beunderstood that in the type of machine to which this invention re-" lates the machine proper,.not illustrated, is designed to travel longitudinally of the platen on stationary tracks or guides, :and

supports downwardly acting printing mechanism by means of which the. record may be 7 i typewritten on a work sheet sustained by the flat platen. In the present instance the upper edges of the side bars 2 and 3 of the platen frame constitute the'tracks or guides 5 for thetraveling machine and are therefore toothed, as indicated at 42, for coaction with the line space .pinions ordinarily employed on machines of the class mentioned.

It is thought that from the foregoing, the i 7 construction, operation and advantages of' the invention will be-clearly understood, but, while the illustrated serve the right to effect such changes, inodie prayed. "What I claim is a fairly Within the scope of the protection 1. The combination witha verticallyniov-i able platen, of a pair of spools for a flexible strip, and feeding mechanisin'cooperating with one of the spools and operated by the,

2. The combination with a depressible 'platen of means, for supporting and guiding structure. is. thoughtat this time to be preferableyl re-" fications and variations thereof as may come a flexible strip extended over the platen,:-

feeding mechanism cooperating with. the;

strip and platen to feed the strip when the platen is moved.

3. The combination with a vertically mov able platen, of a pair of ribbon spools, and pawl and ratchet mechanism operated by'the platen to rotate a spool.

' means for supporting a ribbon in cooperative relation with the platen, and ribbon feeding means coeperatively related to the platen.

6. The combination with a work-holder and a vertically movable fiat platen cooperating there-with, of means for supporting a ribbon in cooperative relation with the platen, ribbon feeding mechanism operated by the movement of the platen, and means for moving the platen.

7. The combination with a work-holder, of a platen yieldingly supported in cooperative relation with said work-holder, ribbon supporting means and ribbon feeding mechanism cooperatively connected with the platen.

8. The combination with a work-holder, of a flat platen cooperatively related thereto,

reactive supporting means for the platen,

ribbon feeding mechanism, and means for establishing a cooperative relation between theplaten and the ribbon feedingmechanism. p I 9. The combination with a work-holder, of a platen, means for movingthe platen,

of ribbon feeding mechanism, means for depressing the platen to operate the ribbon feeding mechanism, and reactive supporting]. means yieldingly retaining the platen in" normal position and adapted to restore the platen to such normal position after the platen has been operated to feed the ribbon. 11. The combination with a flat platen, of springs supporting the platen and permitting movement thereof toward and. away,

from the normal position of the platen and ribbon feeding mechanism operated by the movement of the platen. V

12. The combination with a platen and a I work-holder cooperatively related for relative movement to engage and release an in terposed sheet, of a ribbon mechanism and means for efiecting the automatic feed of the ribbon upon the relative movement of the platen and work-holder.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY A. FOOTHORAP. Witnesses V J. F. CULVERWELL, R. M. PARKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five. cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

45 ribbon mechanism operated by movement of the platen, and spring supporting means for returning the platen to its normal position. 10. The combination with a fiat platen," 

